Akusuzume
by Tomyo Torou
Summary: Shinichi, unable to turn back to his once life without love after a devastating reunion with Ran, turns to Kaito, and with the help of Pandora, he has a new life starting, and this time, together with the magician, and his little brother, Conan! But will love spark between the two teens? KaiShin later on!
1. Prologue

Not much to say in the prologue is there? Nope.. ... ... I never learn do I? Always starting a story in the middle of several others.. *mental slap*

Shinichi: Again? A new story?

Me: ... anyway *ignores* this story has no relation to the real manga what-so-ever and everything written here is based on my own silly little, yaoi-crazy mind :D So yeah, obviously KaiShin, with some extra fluff on the side lines *huggles Conan* ... and Ran.. of course.. I forgot about her a moment there.. well, *waves* hope you'll like the first chapter of Akusuzume (Red Sparrow) and remember to review okay? :D

* * *

Akusuzume.

Prologue.

Return For The Moment.

There was a stab of pain, not as strong as usual, so it was probably caused by the headache the renowned detective of the East, Kudou Shinichi was experiencing at the moment. The teen held back an annoyed sigh. He was waiting, and for once, he wasn't late. Shinichi had been begging Haibara for an antidote, even if it wasn't a permanent one. There was no way she would be able to create one so fast, at least not when she had to recreate the damn drug in the first place.

"Shinichi!" a voice called his attention, and Shinichi turned, his heart skipping a beat. The girl stopped in front, panting a bit.

"I'm sorry I'm late, dad was heading out drinking.." she said. Shinichi nodded, chuckling a bit as he knew how the old man could be. The two stood there for a while, just looking at nothing and at the same time, everything, but each other.

"Um.. Ran.." Shinichi began, then he sighed, scratched the back of his neck. How the hell was he supposed to tell her what he felt? Was there any way for him to convey his feelings without damaging his immense pride? Well, no, there didn't seem to be. Ran smiled.

"It's.. it's about what you said.. in London wasn't it?" Ran asked, blushing a bit. Shinichi nodded slowly, embarrassed.

"Y-yeah.. pretty much.." he answered. Why the hell was he acting like some shy boy trying to confess for the first time? It wasn't his first time saying the words, and he wasn't a shy boy, that's for sure.

"Can you wait for me?" Ran suddenly asked, catching Shinichi's attention.

"Is there.. something wrong?" Shinichi asked, a bit confused, having a deja-vu as if he felt he had heard the words before.

"Well, yeah.. dad.. you know.." Ran was smiling a bit shyly. Shinichi laughed.

"I understand." then he smiled sincerely, maybe shyly too.

"I'll wait for you Ran, no matter how long." he said and she smiled, however, Shinichi noticed how the smile seemed slightly forced.

"Thanks, that was great to hear.. so, how long are you staying this time?" she asked. Shinichi sighed.

"Just for a few hours.. I'm sorry, but I think the case is moving towards an end, but if not.. then.." he looked down, truly sorry. Ran nodded.

"I see.. then we can spend these hours together right?" she asked.

"Yes, that we can." he smiled brightly at her. However, as he joined her and went to tropical land, all the memories he had received there, the moment he was separated from Ran, the moment he was drugged and shrunk, the time when he had, as Conan dragged Ran across the whole play land to save her from a murderer with her as one of the only two witnesses. Shinichi couldn't help, but wonder what would have happened if he had never followed the men in black. Had he continued to live his life as Kudou Shinichi, the arrogant, know-it-all boy? Because Shinichi was very sure he had changed from then, given the perspective of a child and given a chance to see everything from a different view. Ran wasn't smiling, as she seemed to be thinking about something, so Shinichi bought her a plush bear just to clear her mind of the bad memories or whatever she was thinking about. But when she smiled, it was still forced, and no matter how much Shinichi thought about it, he couldn't figure out why she wasn't sincerely smiling like she used to. He had been in and out of her life for the last year. Now at the start of their last year at high school, there was no concrete answer as to him ever actually returning to himself for permanent, that he knew. Ran was obviously thinking something along the same thing.

"Ran? Are you okay?" he asked. Ran looked at him, then she nodded.

"Yes, of course, why are you asking?" She asked back.

"Well, cause you didn't look all that happy.." Shinichi said.

"Oh, well, I am." but she wasn't smiling.

* * *

There was a yawn, then a snap of a couple of fingers, making confetti appear out of nowhere. Cheerful, dark blue eyes always following his hands and the book in front instead of looking at the blackboard and the teacher trying her best to teach. Ekoda High School's nr. 1 joker and troublemaker, Kuroba Kaito, was trying out a new trick, which would lead to many bad things for the rest of the class, who Kaito had dubbed his 'guinea pigs', well, everyone except a girl with long, reddish, black hair. Kaito feared her as much as he feared fish, almost. After all, no matter how much magic tricks he did, nothing came close to her real magic. He hated having a witch in the class. The teen grinned, thinking of something funny. Because, this teen, was also known as the most wanted, famous and arrogant thief there would ever exist. Yours truly, Kaitou KID, and like the previously mentioned detective of the East, he had a second identity, although it consisted of stealing gems and other nice, and expensive things he fancied.

"Kuroba-kun, are you listening?" the teacher asked. Kaito looked up.

"Yes, of course I am, I always am." he said, smirking. Although, for once he wasn't listening, because he was thinking about said detective. There was something about that tiny boy-once a teenager, that unnerved the usually calm thief. Those ever-watchful blue eyes, that smirk when he solved one of KID's tricks or riddles. And those soccer kicks. Yes, you get the 8 year old brat angry and he'd break a tree with just one kick. It scared Kaito whenever he thought about how it would be if the kid, in full size would use those shoes. If a ball didn't cut stone, then the shoes weren't working. However, Kaito often found himself searching for the detective, just looking forward to the appearance of the shrunken teen. Nothing could compare to the feelings Kaito felt when almost cornered, but also cornering the child on a roof, wind messing with the smallest' hair and making everything so exiting. And that was why Kaito was unusually exited now, because in two days, there would be another heist, this time going after a red gem called Ember's Heart. It was rather pretty, and it was red, so Kaito wasn't about to let it slip past him, it could, after all, be the one he was searching for, Pandora.

"Pandora.. I'll find you.." he thought, looking out of the window. Oh yes, the next heist would be just as thrilling, but dangerous. Those men would without a doubt be there to shot him down if he caught the gem. So getting chased by the small detective out on to the roof was out of the question. He wouldn't endanger the child's life for the search of Pandora. After all, his pride was his non-violent rule. And then, there was Hakuba. The annoying detective sitting two seats behind him and always watching the magician. Kaito knew he had caught on to him being KID, but he had no proof so Kaito would always escape just in front of him, and he loved it. Kaito sighed, feeling the British detective's eyes in his neck and had been doing so ever since this day started. After another five minutes, Kaito had enough and slipped a smoke bomb, and during the panic, he colored the detective's hair bright purple just to take revenge.

"Take that stupid Tantei-san." Kaito thought as he settled down in his chair, but not before he had completely changed the teacher's outfit from casual clothes to a tight maid outfit. The teacher ran screaming out as most of the boys suffered from bleeding located from their nose. Everyone knew it was Kaito, but the teen just about never did something like that to the teachers, so something was off. Said magician was staring out of the window with a thoughtful look on his face, and that usually spelled trouble for the rest of the class. Then the magician's thoughts wandered over to Kudou Shinichi, the more grown up form of the detective that seemed to always figure out his tricks and escape routs. And then Kaito suddenly began smiling in a silly way when he pictured the teen detective in that maid outfit and with a blush even darker that the one his teacher wore before she ran out. Kaito smirked to himself before he started laughing manically, knowing he'd have a lot of fun with that, and even though he knew he'd never get away alive if he did it, it was very interesting and Kaito wanted to do it the more he knew he wouldn't be allowed to. The class eyed him with some worry, mostly for themselves. Kaito was in a good mood, a too good mood, and if they were right, he would let it out on them later. As another teacher came by and told them to have a self study, Kaito continued to cackle as his thoughts went to the detective being found by Hakuba, as well as that annoying Osakan detective and the task force. Oh the sight. Kaito knew that KID would officially be black listed by not only Kudou Shinichi, and probably all of the police in Tokyo, but Hattori Heiji too, yeah, the detective had too many friends on the right side of the law. But Kaito couldn't care less, it was actually so tempting that he did it to Aoko without knowing it, and he was still laughing his head off.

"Now I can't wait until Tantei-kun regains his body, I'm going to have so much fun!" he thought, and Kaito continued to laugh until his childhood friend Aoko slammed a map in his face.

* * *

... Kaito's 'guinea pigs' ... I like it.. XD

Pfft.. anyway *laughs* reviews are appreciated right now ;)


	2. Chapter 1

And so the next chapter begins XD

I'm so happy so many has reviewed the first chapter, and followed it ^^ I really appreciate it guys :D

Okay, on with this weird story of mine X9

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Chapter 1.

Ember, Hot And Red.

Conan sighed, dragging himself out of bed. It was Sunday, and no school today. And despite that, the kids he usually hung out with, were all busy so there was no one to talk to, except Ran and Haibara maybe. And Kogoro was suffering from a hangover for the second night so there was little to no chance there would be a case for them today. The shrunken teen opened the door while yawning. He had returned early last night after the antidote had reversed and he ended up a child again. Conan shuffled over to the bathroom and entered. He had, during the few hours he laid awake, been thinking about the reunion with Ran on Friday. Something had been off, ever since they met until they separated. Conan walked over to the sink and pulled his toothbrush out of his cup. Ran had been unusually serious and maybe a bit bored. And right before Conan fell asleep, he realized that maybe, just maybe she wasn't thinking so much about him anymore. It stung, Conan knew that, and getting depressed wasn't helping, but if he was right, then Kudou Shinichi was losing one of his last hopes in this world. Then he stopped when he remembered the note in the newspaper yesterday. The one he read while at Agasa's house, hiding. A new heist note from KID. Something sparked within Conan. There was something about that ever so indifferent thief that made him look forward to the heists, looking forward to the cat and mouse chase. And Conan knew that he was reading to much into it. But he had come to cherish the small moments when he could act like himself and just chase KID without any worries in the world.

"Annoying.." Conan muttered when he realized he was, once again, thinking too much about KID. And he had done that a lot lately he realized as he stuck his toothbrush into his mouth. It wasn't the thief himself that annoyed Conan, not much anymore anyway, but it was the fact that Conan found himself thinking about the thief whenever his mind wasn't preoccupied with a murder or the men in black.

"Good morning Conan-kun." Conan jumped at the cheerful voice and turned.

"Ah.. Ran-neechan! G-good morning.." he greeted her as she came in. The boy moved a bit to the side as the teen came over, checking her make up.

"I'll be heading out with Sonoko okay? Just wake up dad whenever you feel like it, it's not like he deserves to sleep in anyway." she sounded a bit grumpy at the last part, but Conan forced himself to smile, ignoring his wish to run and hide.

"Okay!" he said and before he could even ask her about dinner, she was gone. Conan sighed. Ran had been heading out a lot lately and Conan couldn't see why she would hang out with Sonoko almost each day, it was, after all, the start of the third year. Conan looked down. Kudou Shinichi was still absent from school, and no matter how much Conan wanted to return, it wasn't possible yet, not so soon. He might even never be able to finish high school, and that would hurt Shinichi's pride. Conan put the toothbrush away as he finished up, his thoughts going from his depressing life to the thief again. Conan slammed his head against the wall on purpose.

"Stop popping up into my head all the time, damn thief!" he groaned before he turned around. He knew there was only one way to fix this, do something about said thief so that he wouldn't have to find himself unconsciously thinking about the thief all the time. And he was lucky, today was KID's heist. Conan entered the living room, and noticed the breakfast on the table. His stomach rumbled and he wasn't using ages to reach the table. The shrunken teen grabbed the newspaper and saw the first page, then he chuckled.

"And again, KID has stolen first page.." he read the first page, the turned to the page within the paper so he could read it all.

"Oh yeah, it was Ember's Heart wasn't it? He really doesn't go for the low profiled ones.." Conan sighed as he turned to the food. It was no use thinking too much into it now, he had already deciphered the code and relayed the information to the police as Kudou Shinichi on early Friday, waiting for Haibara to give him the antidote, but told them he in person wouldn't appear since they even bothered asking.

"Well, it's still a lot of time until the heist, might as well just head over to Haibara or something to wait.." then he stopped, laying down the chopsticks he had been holding, then he grinned.

"But before that, I'll wake up Occhan." he stated, smirking to himself, but waited with it till after breakfast, because he wanted to make sure he was completely full before he got thrown out of the front door.

"Then, I can pick up the newly enhanced shoes from Hakase." he thought gleefully, already looking forward to Kaitou KID's nervous face when Conan kicked a soccer ball his way. Seeing that it was the only way KID usually got nervous, and Conan loved it.

* * *

Conan looked out over the sky. He was, as usual checking out KID's possible escape routes and right now, he kind of regretted going. The wind was a tad bit to hard, so even KID might have trouble with the escape by glider. And Conan was cold, really, really cold.

"Damn, it just had to be a cold day.." he muttered. The child turned towards the door and made his way over there when he suddenly stopped, feeling watched and spun around, just barely seeing the glimpse of a dark figure.

"KID? No.. that wasn't KID.. that was someone else, someone who isn't supposed to be there.." he murmured before he quickly walked over to the door and entered. He wasn't risking his life out there, but he didn't want to the thief to risk his either so he pulled out one of KID's cards he had in his pockets, for some reason Conan always kept the cards KID shot at him. The child found a pen in the inner pocket of his jacket and wrote something down, and then somehow fastening it to the door.

"I'm going to look forward to the aftermath of the heist KID.." he thought, smirking.

* * *

Conan eyed the gem in the casing, then the officer standing by it's side, ranting into the tiny microphone that was hanging from his right ear. It was obvious they were failing, and it seemed that today, was another one of those days Conan regretted not taking with him some popcorn, because there was no way KID would be caught. At least that's what Conan thought, not unlike Nakamori, who obviously had his mind set on only capturing KID.

"Like he can do much anyway.." Conan thought, musing over how KID would do it today, it wasn't like it was any harder than usual, even Conan could steal the gem if he wanted to, but he wasn't a criminal, and nowhere near aiding one. Nakamori suddenly yelled a new order, and a few more before he stopped himself to take a breath. How he became so breathless from yelling orders, Conan didn't know, nor did he want to know, it wasn't interesting trying to figure out how the officer's brain worked, because most times, it didn't seem to even be plugged in. Like now, for example.

"Get me his location!" Nakamori yelled, followed by a string of curses. Conan itched closer, and he could clearly hear what the underlings, or as Conan called them, 'Nakamori's puppies', was saying. Conan inwardly slapped himself for even giving them a name, it was like KID, who gave a nickname to everyone, and that was a kick to the shrunken detective's pride.

"He's in the main lobby!"

"No, he's in the South corridor!"

"But he is in the North corridor as well!"

"KID has appeared in the Northwest lobby!"

"The thief has entered the west corridor and is running towards the innermost chamber!" Nakamori was going crazy, his task force officers was all reporting the sight of the thief, but there was no way he could be everywhere at once, he wasn't that good. So, where was he?

"Damn it KID!" he yelled. Then he grabbed a random officer.

"Find out what the hell is going on! Find out where KID is!" he growled. The officer nodded, running away, more out of fear than for his work. After a while, there was still no chance of locating the ever so slippery phantom thief. Conan's lips twitched upwards.

"Of course, only Nakamori-keibu wouldn't realize by now where KID really is.." Conan mused mentally, waiting patiently as he powered up his sneakers.

"Where the hell are you KID?" Nakamori roared after another five minutes, having had enough. Conan couldn't help but watch amused as a grin appeared out of nowhere, hovering over the glass casing of the gem.

"Right behind you." said a soft voice. Nakamori spun around, and gaped. KID was floating right above the showcase for the gem he had said he was after.

"What the- KID!" Nakamori yelled. KID just smirked.

"Your getting slower keibu-san, I've been here the whole time." he said, shaking his finger at the officer. Nakamori's face went red in anger before he growled and lunged for the thief, who just disappeared into the air, making the officer stop. There was no trace of the thief ever being there, so where was he? Then he stopped.

"THE GEM IS GONE!" he roared, starting to jump around furiously. KID's laughter made the officer turn towards the windows as Conan grabbed his belt, smirking at the thief. The child let the ball fall to the floor before he calculated speed, object and impact, then he kicked the ball, aiming to take off that smirk. KID's eyes widened for just a millisecond before the thief not so elegantly ducked.

"Now now Meitantei-kun, you shouldn't be kicking soccer in a room like this." he said, placing a hand on his hip, while using the other to shake a finger at him, acting like a scolding mother. However, Conan could see that the thief had this nervousness in his eyes, one barely visible. Conan's eyes narrowed.

"I don't want to hear that from you." he stated. Instead of kicking a new ball in the general direction of said, annoying thief, he just smiled sweetly, sickly sweet.

"But you know, Agasa Hakase power them up for me, aren't they strong?" he asked innocently. KID's eyes was still holding some of the fear from the earlier kick, because it was obvious he had noticed.

"Such things should have been confiscated, Nakamori-keibu, you're going to easy on _little_ Meitantei-kun." he said, smirking a bit. Conan's left eye twitched at the heavy undertone of the word little. It wasn't his fault he was shorter than average children his age. And then there was the fact that he wasn't a child, he was already eighteen.

"You.. are so dead.." Conan muttered as he 'magically' pulled out another soccer ball and sent it in the thief's direction, now making sure to calculate where the thief would escape to. The thief obviously hadn't planned for it to go that way as the ball just barely touched the thief's nose and Kaitou abruptly stopped, frozen to the spot. Oh yes, the thief was not liking the outcome of this. Conan smirked.

"It seems I missed.. by inches." he mused. Kaitou gave him a faked, teary-eyed look.

"How horrible of you, are you trying to kill me?" he asked in a patheticly, dramatic, hurt voice. Conan seemed to think about it, then he grinned.

"Well, I did aim for your head, and with the strenght, and speed I calculated, I could've taken your head of, but I knew you'd manage to dodge anyway." Conan said, shrugging his shoulders. The task force eyed the child with some fear. They'd never met a child that could stand up to KID and nearly decapitate him at the same time. It was almost more frightening that Nakamori when he was on his worst. KID sniffed in a faked, heartbroken way.

"You, Meitantei-kun, shouldn't be allowed to hold such items, I think I need to talk with your guardian.. or should I call her your girlfriend?" KID teased, though he still seemed wary of Conan's newer shoes. Conan glared.

"Don't you dare, and she's not my girlfriend damnit!" he answered in an irritated tone. KID just smirked before he picked up the gem he had in his inner pocket.

"Well, I still have what I came for, so I'll say my farewell for today." he said before he bowed, then disappearing in a poff of smoke as most of the members of the task force ran forward, throwing themselves into the smoke. Conan raised an eyebrow. There was no way to catch him now, the moment KID made his escape he would be gone. However, there was something off. That much Conan knew, because KID used to show off, make everything into a magic show, today however, KID had come, taken the gem, avoided his soccer balls and then left.

"The fuck is up with that?" Conan asked himself, but couldn't find an answer.

"You'll never catch me!" KID's laughing voice filled the room, and seemingly the whole building. Outside, it seemed the crowds of cheering KID-fans had heard it as well.

"KID!" the man roared, starting to yell orders at the other task force members as well as cursing in between. The thief had done it again, and now he was gone. Conan sighed, deciding that he might as well leave now before Nakamori realized that Conan had set off soccer balls after the thief, that could have wrecked the place, and also killed the thief while at it. Non of them was prepared for the window to shatter as a gun shoot rang through the whole room. Conan looked up, having realized just why KID seemed to act so differently. What he saw, shocked him. KID was however from a thing thread, but he looked like he was in pain, if the blood on his jacket was any indication.

"KID!" Conan yelled as the thief suddenly realized he was hanging right in line for more bullets so he grabbed the thing thread and climbed up with surprisingly easiness and no difficulty, then he was gone in another poff of smoke. Conan stood there, half in shock, half in disgust. Someone had fired at the thief again, and they had hit home. It looked horrible, and the look on his face still haunted Conan. The look of absolute terror and pain. Nakamori threw himself over the phone and barked at the police to get their asses over here to find out who fired at KID.

"It's obvious they're not there anymore.." Conan thought to himself as he turned and left. There was only one thing on his mind, and that was the thief's pained expression and his welfare. However, if Nakamori had looked a bit closer or a nearby case, he would have seen that the gem there, had been replaced with a fake one.

* * *

Conan muttered to himself. There wasn't even a chase today. The thief wasn't acting like his usual self, that much the detective had noticed, and strangely enough, it worried him more than he wanted to admit. The child was sitting in the garden at the back of his house, well, Kudou Shinichi's house. Thinking back to the blood, the pained expression and the hold on the thread that just barely loosened.

"And he just had to go and disappear like that, and left me to retrieve the damn card before Hakuba found it.. and then he had to get himself shot too.. what an idiot!" he muttered, then he cursed.

"A child shouldn't curse." a voice stated and Conan jumped, spinning around.

"K-KID?" he asked. Before the child, stood the white clad, smirking like usually, however, something seemed off. Maybe it was the bloodstains on his usually pristine white jacket that gave it away. However, there was more than when he left.

"Y-you're hurt.. again, what happened? You got shot on the way out as well?" Conan commented, a bit shocked. The thief never showed up after a heist, at least not when he was hurt.

"Yes, it's kind of obvious.." and with that, the thief collapsed on the grass. Conan's mind screamed for him to cuff the thief, but his heart told him otherwise. The child ran over, starting to unbutton the thief's jacket. But was stopped by a hand, covered by a bloody glove.

"Wouldn't go there if I were you.." KID murmured, his face contorted in pain.

"Look, you're hurt, badly too in seems, there's no way I can leave you like this." Conan stated. The thief seemed a bit perplexed at that sentence, but didn't say anything, and let the child continue to undress KID, in more innocent way that Kaitou thought it was. Conan gently moved his hands towards the blue, and bloody red shirt, just then, not only one, but two gems fell out of the inner pocket of KID's jacket. Conan frowned.

"I thought you only went after Ember's Heart?" he asked as he gently opened the shirt, still a bit wary of the possible traps within the thief's jacket and even shirt.

"It was at the spur of moment really.." the thief murmured, now laying against that grass, breathing heavily. Conan never once took his eyes off the card gun on the thief's hand, because it was obvious that Kaitou hadn't let his guard down, so Conan wouldn't either. There was a moment of silence before Conan cursed.

"You've been shot in the chest KID, you could have a bullet pressed against you're heart and you still continued to fly and run away?" Conan asked.

"Got no choice, I couldn't let them have it.." the thief whispered, seemingly unable to speak louder at the moment. Conan straightened up.

"It? The gems?" he asked. Kaitou groaned as he other hand went for the one he had stolen without a notice. It was a complete see-through, but there seemed to be a second gem within it or something, because it had a darker core. Then he picked it up and held it up towards the moon as the clouds removed themselves. Then Conan found himself, as well as the thief bathed in red light. Conan gaped.

"What the-" then he stopped, becoming mesmerized by the beauty of the gem.

"So beautiful.. what is that?" he asked. Kaitou chuckled, then gave a pained groan.

"It's name is Pandora, it's a gem I've been searching for.. and.. want to destroy.." Conan gasped.

"That's the first.. why? Why are you risking you're life to destroy a gem like that?" he asked.

"Because it is the cause.. it's what got my father killed." the thief said, then he groaned. Conan placed his hand on Kaitou's, closing his hand over the gem and hiding it from the moonlight.

"Don't speak, you're hurt, I have a friend that can remove the bullet and you wont need to go the hospital.. to the hos.." he sentence faded out, confused when he noticed the light around them was still red, so he looked up. The moon was colored red, the same color as the gem. And it didn't seem to be letting up any time soon.

"KID? Is there a reason why the moon is red?" he asked. Kaitou cracked an eye open, then he sighed.

"I don't know.. might be because of Pandora.." he muttered.

"So.. if you destroy it, the moon wont shine red?" Conan asked. KID stared at him.

"You want it to continue to shine like that?" he asked, or more teased, despite his obvious injury.

"No, that's not what I meant.." Conan sighed. Suddenly the light grew stronger and the two looked up, seeing a smaller object flying fast across the sky. Conan gaped.

"A meteor? Now? There was no meteors mentioned on the news!" Conan stated.

"Run.." he turned to KID, who had just whispered.

"What?" he asked, shocked.

"Run.. now.." KID whispered again. Conan shook his head frantically.

"No way, I'm not letting you die in my back yard!" Conan protested, then he pulled a bit at his hand, letting some of the moon shine at the gem again. Just as suddenly as the night grew lighter, the gem grew hot. Conan removed his hand, wincing.

"What the-" and he stopped. KID had also let the gem go, and it fell to the ground. The gem was glowing, and it was steaming, so it was probably very hot. Kaitou managed to sit up, staring at the gem in just as much of confusion, shock and nervousness as Conan. Then there was this loud, cracking noise before pain sparked in both boys. Conan and Kaitou both fell back, crying out in pain. Conan, who was more used to pain than the thief, recovered faster and soon realized the gem had exploded, sending a shard into his right eye, which was now bleeding. One look at the thief and Conan realized the other was in the same situation, only he was covering his left eye. Then Conan gasped and froze. His body was hot and he heart was racing, and his eye wasn't hurting anymore, despite just receiving a shard of a diamond in it.

"W-what's happening?" he barely managed to think before the darkness of his mind took him.

* * *

Pfaaaaah! Cliffhangers :D I just love them XD

Well, yeah, it's only the second chapter and it's already suspense.. I don't mind but..

Kaito: ... *runs around* I have Pandora! :D

Me: *knocks unconscious* well, leave it be for now! And remember to review okay? *smiles* I need more motivation ;)


	3. Chapter 2

Yay, another update :D

Actually.. for some reason I had trouble finishing this chapter.. I guess my ever so elusive, and crazy mind didn't prepare this story for a good enough explanation, so I had to figure something out fast.. and because of my newest fandom, Fairy Tail, I can't think properly ahead to anything XD Maybe downloading all soundtrack, opening, endings, character songs will help? Wait, I've already done that.. shit..

Well, just ignore me ^^; and we'll go one with the story! :) And again, thanks for the many faves, followers and reviews, I'm so happy there are so many that actually takes time to read this stuff ;)

I had to add: IT'S OUT GUYS! DETECTIVE CONAN MOVIE 16 :D It's already very well subbed and good quality on Gogoanime, it's worth watching.. as I am right now! :D

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Chapter 2.

Pandora, Red Shards.

Kaitou groaned, and slowly sat up, the pain in his chest, as well as eye was gone and he felt strangely light, like he was floating and when he looked down, he found that he was, but it was not the way he thought it was. He was looking down at himself -through his own, invisible body- as well as Conan, who was laying in the grass, writhing in pain, but otherwise, unconscious. Then Kaitou suddenly fell to the ground, only, a few feet away from his original place, and when he sat up, he realized that he wasn't invisible anymore, but he was still looking at himself. His 'clone' sat up and stared back in shock.

"Uh.." was all that left both thieves mouth's. Then Kaitou sighed.

"And, what the hell happened?" he asked loudly. The other thief smirked.

"Pandora happened.." he stated. Kaitou glared.

"And how would you know?" he asked.

"Because I'm you." Kaitou fell back against the grass in pure shock.

"W-what?" but it seemed that the 'clone' was busy getting up. His suit was pristine white, with no trace of blood or wound. Kaitou looked down at himself and gaped.

"How come you are completely clean and I'm not?" he asked as the other thief walked over to the child in the grass and picked him up.

"Now is not the time.." he said and Kaitou looked at him, then he saw Conan. The child was writing, looking like he was in pain, a lot of pain. His eyes was closed, but he was making some noises and it looked like steam was rising from his body.

"Let's take him inside.." the other thief nodded, agreeing silently. The thief 'clone' handed Kaitou the boy and picked the look on the backdoor. Kaitou silently thanked his counterpart for getting his tricks. Then, they walked right to one of the bedrooms, knowing which one's belonging to who. Kaitou put the child on the bed and watched as Conan's eyes tightened before they opened.

"K-KID?" he asked, then he groaned loudly, grabbing his shirt right over his heart. The two thieves exchanged worried glances as the child let out a cry and it took the two a second more to realize what was going on, and by then had Conan already begun to grow. Kaitou watched in horror as the limbs grew.

"Oh God.." he felt like puking, but knew he didn't have time.

"The clothes!" another voice piped in. The two Kaitou's turned their heads and gaped. In the doorway stood an identical Conan, only, he didn't look like he was about to have a heart attack and die, or grow at extreme speed.

"Uh.." Kaitou began while his 'clone' grabbed the child on the bed and promptly stripped him of his clothing, then put him under the duvet. The boy in the doorway came over, sighing.

"It looks like it wasn't just me then.." he said, giving the two thieves a blank stare. Kaitou turned away from the detective in the bed. The sight was just too much, and he still felt like hell.

"So, you think you know what happened?" the 'clone' Kaitou asked. Conan nodded.

"Pandora right? Isn't it possible that while shattering, it sent a shard into KID's eye, as well as mine.. well, Shinichi's, then somehow.. we split?" he suggested. Kaitou gaped.

"Is that even possible?" he asked. Conan stared at him.

"And you're asking that after seeing 'me' growing at extreme speed?" he stated.

"True.. I guess I can't say what's possible and not after meeting you.." Kaitou sighed, then he slapped a hand over his left eye.

"The shard.." he said and pulled back his hand, he was still bloody. Conan sighed.

"It's only you in that case.. I don't have it.." he said. The other thief nodded.

"Me neither.. so my guess is the original identities got the shard's.." the thief said and Conan nodded.

"Somehow, that may be the case.. I'm running over to Haibara and getting her, you two.." he began, now glaring ice shards at them, and they both swallowed. Tiny or not, Conan could leave a threat in the air just as good as Nakamori could fail to catch him during the heists. Only this one was scarier.

"Leave Shinichi alone and I'll find you." then he was gone, leaving the threat to sink in. The two thieves shivered.

"Clone or not.. scary.." Kaitou said and the other nodded. The two turned back to the original body of Kudou Shinichi and had to look away again. He wasn't completely back to his size. One of his hands fell off he edge of the bed and the two thieves watched as the bones and the skin stretched and the two gulped.

"Any more and I'll puke.." the thief 'clone' said. Kaitou agreed with a groan of his own. It was horrible, and it didn't seem to be getting any better any time soon.

"I just wish it was already over.. it looks really painful.." he said.

"It is.." a voice agreed and Kaitou turned, seeing the child, now pre-teen giving the two a painful smile. Kaitou looked down, his heart ached when saw the hurt expression on the others face, but couldn't show it, having forced himself to wear poker face non stop at the moment. Suddenly his clothes vanished, replaced with his school uniform. Kaitou gaped as he stared down at himself. Had the other thief done that? Or was it part of him splitting from 'himself' -as weird as that sounded-?

"What the-" he stared down at himself. The other chuckled.

"Seems like it wasn't complete yet." he said. Kaitou glared.

"Shut up.. it felt horrible." he muttered. And he was speaking the truth, it felt like his clothes had been magically removed almost down to his boxer, but it wasn't like he was using specific underwear for the KID heists. Then to be replaced with his school uniform? Kaitou was sure it had been at home, on his bed, in the mess he left it in when he went on a heist. The door opened, revealing Conan, and another child, girl, one which KID had dubbed the Satan's spawn, because she was definitely evil. Her chestnut colored hair danced as she quickly ushered over to the detective on the bed. Conan walked in as well, however, he stopped by KID's side.

"Is that the girl.. you said could pull out a bullet?" Kaitou asked. Conan nodded.

"Yes, but my guess is that it's not even in there anymore seeing you aren't dead already- when did you change you're clothes?" he asked, changing the subject once he saw the the KID he was talking to, was dressed in black, and not his usual, pristine white. Shinichi gave another pained cry and everyone looked at him, then Conan turned back to Kaitou.

"I didn't.. I guess Pandora did it.. you're looking at my real self here!" Kaitou said, feeling rather, naked in way as he smiled nervously. Conan nodded, then he smiled softly before he grinned.

"I have no intention of arresting you so don't worry, besides, right now, it's him we need to worry about." he pointed at Shinichi, who was still growing and by the look on Haibara's face, it wasn't stopping yet. The girl turned back to the other three males, who waiting for her conclusion.

"He still has a few years more to grow in this rapid speed.. and.. there's a red shard in his eye, and he just passed out." she stated in her usual, serious demeanor, except her voice was laced with worry. Conan nodded.

"The black-clothed KID over there has one too." Conan said. KID glared at the child, before he decided to be honest on this one, and he turned to the girl, nodding. Haibara looked up at the thief, who smiled nervously.

"We'll do the talk after Kudou-kun regains consciousness." Haibara said.

* * *

There was a groan, subtle and muted, but still loud enough to make the dove's head turn. An eye opened to reveal deep, azure blue eyes. However, they were clouded with sleep and some still-remaining pain.

"What the hell happened?" he asked himself as he sat up. He then stopped and looked down at himself. Edogawa Conan, well, that was yesterday, or maybe it was a few hours earlier? He didn't know, but he knew that right now, he was Kudou Shinichi, and he had no idea why.

"It seems you're awake Kudou-kun." voice brought him back to reality and Shinichi looked over at the door to see Haibara enter.

"Was the door open all the time?" he asked. Haibara nodded.

"Just in case something happened, she wanted to make sure you'd be safe." said Kaitou KID as he entered, his pristine white almost blending Shinichi in his still half asleep state.

"What the- .. where did the blood go?" he asked, remembering that KID had appeared before him, shot and wounded. Suddenly another KID appeared, having the monocle, but dressed in a black school uniform. Shinichi frowned.

"There's two of you.." he stated, completely confused.

"There's two of you too!" the black clothed thief stated in annoyance. Suddenly another child entered and Shinichi was pretty sure he just fell of the bed, or he might have, he wasn't entirely sure after he saw Conan. Conan scratched his cheek.

"It can't be helped can it? It seems that Pandora did a lot more than just explode." he stated, blushing a bit. Haibara sighed as she rolled her eyes. The two thieves colored up as Shinichi frowned.

"What is it? Why're you all blushing?" he asked. The black clothed Kaitou sighed.

"Dense aren't you? Maybe telling you you're naked will help?" he suggested. Shinichi furrowed his eyebrows and looked down, then he suddenly went red. It seemed the blush went past his face and down his neck, even his ears was red. The teen nearly shrieked before he grabbed the duvet and covered himself. Haibara, being the only girl had seemed to act rather, non-stoical about it all, despite having seen something Shinichi hadn't wanted her to see, but that didn't mean she wasn't embarrassed, because she had a red tinge across her face.

"That.. t-that was.. awkward.." Shinichi muttered as he pretty much covered himself with the duvet, hiding his face from the others. The two thieves scratched their cheeks simultaneously, both blushing a bit. Then Shinichi turned silent before he pulled the duvet back a bit, glaring at the others.

"Who took of my clothes then?" he asked. The white clothed Kaitou raised his hand slowly in the air, only to dodge a well aimed alarm clock. Shinichi continued to glare at the white clad while Haibara smirked at the blush Shinichi wore.

"Kudou-kun, how does your body feels?" Haibara asked and Shinichi slowly sat up, letting the duvet fall, revealing most of his chest. The detective nodded to her.

"Actually, I feel fine, like nothing happened." he stated. Haibara frowned.

"Just for you to return... and for a second you to appear.." she muttered.

"Isn't it more like we split?" Conan asked, eying the shrunken scientist.

"Well, it could be seen that way too, and if that's the case, then it doesn't seem like the two of you will become one again.. that's troublesome.. what if they get a hold of this?" she asked, staring right back at Shinichi, who sighed, resting his elbow on his knee while balancing his jaw on his hand.

"It can't be helped, it's not like I'll take the poison on purpose, who knows what'll happen this time, anyway.. I'll try to stay hidden and not attract to much attention, well, less than I did as Conan anyway." he smiled a bit. Conan pouted.

"It's not my fault.." he muttered. Shinichi smiled.

"No, it isn't.. you and I we're both, what should I say? Easily dragged into murder cases, it can't be helped if we feel the need to deduce what we see fit." he said. Conan slowly nodded, still a bit sulky. The two Kaitou's eyed each other, both curious, and confused about the same thing.

"What are you talking about?" the black clad asked. Shinichi stared at him.

"It is nothing of your concern.. it will only get you killed if you know." Shinichi stated and Kaitou pouted.

"It's not like I'm already on a certain someones death list anyway, I think I can handle another murderer or two." the thief said. Shinichi's eyes narrowed.

"I have noticed you are being chased, and most of the times, it leads to suffering on your part, why? Just who are those chasing you KID?" he asked. KID's eyes moved away, then down, as did the white clad's too. Shinichi sighed.

"It seems we both have something to hide then.. but seeing we know each others identity.. so to speak, I don't think it matters that much." he stated. Kaitou frowned, looking at him again, his 'clone' doing the same.

"You know?" he asked. Shinichi chuckled.

"No, not quite, I know what you look like, and already estimated your age and so on, it really shouldn't be much trouble to find out." he stated. Kaitou let out a sigh that was filled with relief. Shinichi raised an eyebrow.

"You were easy on telling me about Pandora, as well as the fact that you wanted to destroy it was because your father died for it.. and yet you're very secretive about your own identity." Shinichi commented, getting several pair of confused looks, that was at least, until the two thieves realized just what he meant. The Kaitou's paled.

"I.. I guess." the black clad said, scratching his cheek again. The other smiled a bit.

"I personally think it's because I- I guess I should say us, or we in our case then.." he smirked at the other, who glared back.

"Yes, say us or we, thank you very much." he stated. The white clad thief smirked.

"There are certain things you end up doing when your life passes in front of your life.." he said, maybe a bit muted, more than Shinichi liked anyway. The detective frowned, his eyes narrowing.

"So.. it's not the first time you've been deadly hurt then?" he asked. The two thieves exchanged glances, then they nodded.

"It's not like we can help it, as thieves, there are always someone out there who wants to kill you.." the black clothed teen said. Shinichi nodded.

"I can understand that one.." he agreed. The white clad Kaitou stared back for a while before he too frowned.

"Yes, as a detective I presume you too have quite a few people who dislike you to the point of murderous intention.. most of them are probably in jail am I right?" he asked and Shinichi nodded.

"It can't be helped that they do, after all, I solve their murders and confront them in a way that makes the police look like amateurs." at that, Shinichi cracked a bit of a smile while the other males laughed, Conan included.

"Don't let Nakamori-keibu hear you saying that." the Kaitou in white stated. Haibara suddenly sighed.

"Please leave me out of the police-talk.." then she stared directly at Shinichi, her eyes narrowing. Shinichi started sweating as he smiled nervously.

"If you do something that'll cause attention to come your way, please do remember I have, and I will use any means necessary to make you regret it." Shinichi shivered, then he nodded fast.

"Yes, I'll keep that in mind!" he answered, almost going into military stance and salute her, that's how scary she is. Then she walked out of the room, leaving the boys to themselves. Conan walked over to the bed and jumped onto it, staring at the thieves, who was looking at the door, both looking a bit too shocked and scared to do anything at the moment, or they were just speechless.

"Scary.." the black clad breathed out. Shinichi chuckled.

"Never get her pissed off, trust me, it's horrible.." Conan stated, looking dead serious. So the thieves believing him, they believing both. There was no way the two was joking about this, or they wouldn't look like they'd die if they did. Shinichi looked around, then he stopped.

"Why is there a dove on my desk?" he asked, turning to the two Kaitou's.

"Well, I can't have them stuffed away forever you know." the white clad stated, grinning. The other just smirked while Shinichi sighed.

"Great.. just clean up if it makes any mess, I don't want feathers and.. other unmentionable things left on my desk, or anywhere else in this house." he stated, waving his hand at the two. The black clad chuckled.

"Can't promise anything, but we'll try." he said. Shinichi's eyes narrowed before he sighed.

"As always, so annoying.. anyway.." he shook his head before he placed a hand on Conan's head and ruffled his hair, making the child squeak. The two thieves exchanged smiles at the sight. The older detective grinned as Conan turned, scolding and glaring at him, but in a cute way.

"What am I gonna do about you hm?" Shinichi asked, laughing when Conan blushed a bit as he flattened his hair.

"I see there aren't any shock on your end then?" the black clad Kaitou asked.

"Well, there isn't much I can do about it anyway, so I don't think it'd matter much for me to sit here looking like a fool, speechless and beyond confused." Shinichi stated, still smirking at Conan, who pouted. The two thieves nodded.

"I see.. well, I wasn't that shocked either, I guess me in black there was the only one." the white dressed thief stated, chuckling a bit. The other glared back.

"I don't want to hear that from my clone.. thank you very much, and no, I wasn't that shocked!" he said, pouting. Shinichi and Conan eyed the two thieves as they bickered back and forth on being shocked and not, that was, until the white clad said something that shocked the rest.

"Well, you and I have a mental connection, so your emotions are mine, remember that?" he asked. The others just gaped.

"Hah?" the black clad asked. Shinichi and Conan stared speechlessly at the two.

"You didn't notice?" the white dressed Kaitou asked and his real self gaped.

"I.. no.. obviously not, how can I when I was busy worrying that Tantei-kun was going to die." the latter stated, a bit agitated. Suddenly Shinichi coughed.

"Well, aside from the obvious growth spurt, you were the one that looked like you were on death's door." he stated. The black clad blushed a bit.

"I know, but it couldn't be helped.. it looked like you were ready to die, and I could still move pretty well for having a bullet in my chest." he stated. Shinichi raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, except for how pale you became and the fact that your breathing came out in quick gasps.. but otherwise fine? I don't think so." he said. The Kaitou's both scratched the back of their necks nervously.

"It's gone now, so don't worry to much." the black clothed one said.

"I-I didn't worry.." Shinichi blushed as he protested, which only fueled the grin that was about to rise on the thieves faces. Then Shinichi sighed.

"Well, are you going to tell me about Pandora? It's not like I have an archive in my head about gems.." Shinichi asked, staring directly at the Kaitou in black. The two thieves' smiles disappeared before they looked down. Conan and Shinichi exchanged worried glances.

"Is it something bad?" Conan asked.

"No.. well, maybe.." the white clad said. The other sighed.

"It isn't bad, really, but it's because of it's legendary power that people wants it, and will kill for it." he stated. Shinichi frowned.

"Legendary power?" he asked. The Kaitou laughed.

"Well, more like a myth really, no one knows if it even is true, but it's said that when a comet passes, Pandora cries a tear of immortality." he explained and Shinichi's eyes widened.

"A comet passed all right, but why did it explode instead?" the detective asked.

"I don't know, maybe because my wish was not to gain immortality, but to destroy it? I don't even know myself." the thief explained, shrugging his shoulders, then he stared past Shinichi, out of the window.

"All that matters is that it's gone, at least now I don't have to worry about it anymore.." he said. Shinichi raised an eyebrow, then he chuckled when the thief realized something and tenses, a grimace coming to his features.

"Is it really?" Shinichi asked, smiling a bit. The two thieves sighed.

"No." the white clad said.

"I left a fake at the museum, so I'll have to do another heist as soon as possible to 'steal' it, then I can erase Pandora from history, once and for all." the black clad stated. Shinichi's eyebrows narrowed before he looked at the dressed that the pristine white thief leaned against.

"Mind open the upper drawer of that dresser and hand me a boxer, I think I'd rather be dressed." he said. The thief nodded and opened the drawer and casually flung a boxer in the detective's direction. It would have been better if Shinichi caught it, but instead it landed on Conan's head and the child just sat there. The two thieves stared at the sight in front as Shinichi sat there, looking just as blank as Conan. The Kaitou's started laughing a moment later, only to stop when Conan, who had ridden himself of the underwear, just about threw himself at the black clothed thief. Kaitou, out of instinct, fled in a rather stoic manner, because having a miniature sized detective trying to knock you out wasn't as fun as it sounded. As Shinichi got the boxer on, Conan had changed his target to the white clad instead and started chasing the thief around the room. It lasted for another five minutes before the thief stopped, but Conan, who didn't, ran straight through him. The real Kaitou, as well as Shinichi, gaped at that.

"You.. are you.." Shinichi seemed to be at a loss of words. Conan stopped, turned.

"It's unfair, why do you get all the talents? Shinichi and I have none!" he said.

"Talents?" Shinichi asked. Conan huffed.

"Like, when Pandora exploded, it probably gave us some of it's power right? Obviously KID has one that gives him invisibility, and invincibility as well.. it's like, he really has become a phantom, while his real self is probably as plain as us.." at the plain-part, the real Kaitou glared a bit childishly.

"It can't be helped, neither of us was meant to exist only as phantoms, KID was, and still is, so I guess this helps, doesn't it?" Shinichi asked, grinning Kaitou's way. The black clad nodded.

"Well, it does, however, I have a feeling Nakamori will be.." his voice faded off as a maniac grin appeared on his face. Shinichi raised an eyebrow.

"Scared?" he suggested. The two thieves snorted simultaneously.

"No way, he'll be more.." the white clad turned to his counterpart.

"Mad? Perplexed? Shocked? Recklessly furious? Murderous?" the other suggested.

"Really? That's all you expect? Wait.. what am I saying, this is Nakamori-san we're talking about.." Shinichi did a facepalm and the thieves laughed. Conan smiled.

"Well, what will we do now?" Conan asked. The Kaitou's looked at each other.

"I guess, we should start with introduction.. and more lies?"

* * *

...the last part was so boring... at least I found it to be boring.. except for Shinichi throwing the alarm clock, Kaitou flinging a boxer at Conan.. well, yeah, fun.. for a small part..

Doves.. they're everywhere.. I swear.. Shinichi, don't get involved with Kaitou, it will only lead to your hair mussed and a lot of.. bird.. dirt.. everywhere..

Well, I'm off watching my new favorite anime :D Remember to review okay? And I'll try to be fast with the next chapter! ;)


	4. Chapter 3

Sorry, I have no excuse for taking this long.. I had little to no motivation to write, personal issues again.. only this time it's all over the place, and it's nearing Christmas D:

Well, I don't think I'll update any time soon, but I will try to get another update before the new year.. I'll try ^.^;

* * *

Chapter 3.

A Talent For a Thief.

Shinichi sighed as he relaxed into the comfortable chair by the desk in the library. As per usual, he was reading a book about Sherlock Holmes, because when you are under house arrest from a friend, you can't really do much else. That's how it had been this last week though. Conan had returned to Ran, and was still living there, but Shinichi had taken it upon himself to call his parents and make arrangements that might change a lot more than just some location of Conan's home. His parents had been surprised, to say at least. He really couldn't blame them as he had once been Conan, and yet, now they were two different people, with apparently no special talent like KID had. KID had his invisibility, and the fact that if you shot at him, the bullet went through, or it wouldn't bleed at all when it did hit. The real thief on the other hand, didn't have any special things either, except his shared mind link with his copy. It seemed Conan was rather envious of the two, but Shinichi had argued that it was probably because KID never had a different body, unlike Conan and Shinichi, who was two different people, well, now anyway. KID on the other hand, was just a disguise his real self used, thus making him slightly unreal. The detective sighed. It had been a week since the talk they had, and it was still fresh in his mind.

* * *

"Lies?" Conan asked, becoming rather serious for his age. Kaitou nodded.

"It would be best right? I can't really say I never lie, because I do, with keeping this secret, and I know you do too." he said, smiling a bit when Conan pouted. Shinichi nodded.

"That's about right yeah, but what do you mean introduction, you already know us, and we know.. well, a part of you." he said, motioning for the black clad. Said thief grinned.

"Well, you don't want to know?" the thief asked back. Shinichi didn't even move.

"No, well, yes, but in the fair way, not through this, it just seems so.. wrong." he said instantly. The Kaitou's seemed rather surprised at this, but then they nodded, smiling. It wasn't the first time Shinichi had been so humble, in a way. Conan too, as they had often come to work together and as a thank you, Shinichi, well, as Conan, refrained from mentioning that KID was there or something related to KID. It was their rule, to be of use to each other whenever they needed to and like that rule, they'd never tell anyone about what they learn from and about each other. But the white clad then shook his head.

"Does it count when the thief wants to reveal himself?" he asked. Shinichi sat back, eyes as wide as Conan's as the two just stared at him in complete and utter shock.

"W-what?" Shinichi asked, not believing what had just heard.

"I- but- are you sure?" Shinichi stuttered. Kaitou smiled.

"Well, I wouldn't tell you otherwise, would I? Besides, I don't think you'll use it against me." Kaitou explained.

"But why? Did you have a change of heart or something, you don't strike me as one to tell your secret's so easily." Shinichi said.

"No, I'm not, I just guess having someone that knows how it feels from lying and hiding and them knowing who I am, then I guess it's only fair.. besides, I'm kind of okay with it.. strangely enough.." there was a short pause.

"But I don't think right now would be a wise moment to tell it, first I think we need to sort out this new.. development." Kaitou obviously meant Conan and his own clone, but Shinichi smiled anyway, amused by the fact that the thief seemed a bit too serious, and yet, nervous about it. It might have something to do with being in the same room as two of the detective's that's constantly chasing him, and these two was the worst with their tiny tranquilizer watches and those enhanced, freaky shoes and soccer balls coming out of nowhere.

"That is probably a good idea.. and I guess you'll just sweep by any time, seeing you tend to do that anyway.." Shinichi stated, raising an eyebrows as he stared at the thief, who chuckled.

"Well, I'll let myself in then." he said cheerfully and Shinichi groaned.

"Please refrain from breaking and entering, just ring the damn doorbell next time." he stated.

"Where's the fun in that? And you know I can't do that, people would surely stop in the streets if they saw me knocking on your door." Kaitou answered happily, still smirking. Shinichi glared.

"That's barely anyone who passes by this house.. besides, I think you'd be able to conjure up some sort of disguise." he said, waving a hand. Kaitou grinned.

"True, then, I'll take your invitation." the thief changed his outfit to match the other white clad before they made their way towards the door.

"By the way, I'm using your backdoor." Kaitou said, waving over his shoulder. Shinichi sighed, then he turned to Conan.

"Let's start making plans then." he said and the boy nodded.

"I guess.."

* * *

Shinichi hadn't ever been that dense when it came to what others felt, however, how he felt about this development was a big mystery. Then there was the fact that there was now two Kaitou KID's.

"Great.. just what we needed.." he thought and put down the book, then he sighed. It couldn't be helped if KID was two people, however, it puzzled him as to why Kaitou was so willing to tell him who he really was. And then there was the matter of him being stuck here, without anything but books to read, and the violin of course. Haibara had -obviously joking- suggested that he could start making food and bake so that he'd hone his skills in case Conan would ever come over, because she didn't want the child to die from eating something that most probably wasn't edible to anyone by the teen detective. However, there was a downside. How could he bake or cook if he couldn't head out to buy the necessary ingredients, and Shinichi had, despite Haibara just joking, actually taken it seriously, because he knew, just like anyone else that had tasted Shinichi's food, that it was even beyond eatable. The detective got up from the chair and got his phone, deciding that he'd call Haibara, then realized it was still school time. Shinichi fell into deep thoughts as he realized that he too, would be back in school soon, only, he was lagging behind the rest because of his long leave of absence. There was a moment when he wondered if he was even allowed to continue third year, or if he had to redo the whole second year. Shinichi gave a grimace at that thought. There was no way he'd go back a year, even if he had to fight for it. So, he dialed the phone to his school instead, hoping the headmaster pitied him enough to let him just take the exams for second year and then continue third year.

"We can only hope I guess.." he thought. It didn't take him long to get in touch with the school and after some talking, Shinichi managed to get through that he wanted to continue the third year instead of redoing second year, even if he had to redo all the tests he had never done, and the exams too. The principal seemed very surprised that Shinichi was willing to go that far, but eventually accepted the terms and Shinichi was told to appear at a certain date and time to discuss further what to do. When Shinichi finally finished, an hour had already passed. The teen sighed as he put down the phone. It was still a few days until the set date and he had more than enough time to burn through whatever he wanted to, there was just one thing. He wasn't allowed to leave the house. Shinichi got up, deciding to get something eat. Something Haibara had brought to him from the convenience store. She wouldn't let him eat what he'd make, probably because she thought he'd kill himself if he did. The teen huffed.

"I'm not that bad at cooking.." he muttered.

"You can't cook?" was the question that seeped in through the doorway. Shinichi stopped his line of thought, tensed before he turned, having recognized the voice as a clear match to his own. Then he stared blankly at himself, or so it looked.

"KID, I swear, if you continue to dress as me, I will shoot you!" the thief laughed and ruffled his own hair.

"It's easier this way, I have a certain detective following me everywhere I go.. I doubt he'd like it if I hung out with a much more interesting and friendly detective.." the thief added. Shinichi raised an eyebrow at this.

"Another detective? Hakuba-san?" he asked. The thief continued to ruffle his hair, making sure that his hair stayed that way when he was finished before entering the kitchen.

"Yes, the annoying detective who looks like he has a stick up his ass all the time." the teen stated and Shinichi smirked. Even though they could casually talk like this, neither let their guard down, after all, they were still thief and detective, rivals on either side of the law.

"I doubt he'd mind it that bad, besides, if you appear on my door step as you are, I can actually get visitors that act at least a bit normal." Shinichi said. The Kaitou raised both eyebrows.

"You should be aware that I'm far from normal." he stated, laughing.

"I know.. but from the rest, I'm not sure your the most unusual one.." Shinichi explained, smiling when the thief just chuckled.

"Then I think I have an idea of how your friends are." he stated. Shinichi smirked.

"Strangely, that doesn't surprise me at all." he said. The teens stared at each other for a while before Shinichi raised an eyebrow.

"So, why did you come? Is it about what we talked about?" he asked. The thief nodded, making himself at home by sitting down by the table and 'magically' transfer a cup to his hand, and Shinichi could smell hot chocolate from it.

"Well, I know that your all set of telling me who you are, but is this really the best way? And is the time right?" Shinichi asked after a while. Kaitou sat down the cup.

"I'm not sure, I'm usually never unsure about most things.." he murmured.

"I have realized that." Shinichi stated, dragging his fingers through his hair, ruffling it a bit. The thief in disguise grinned before he took a sip of his cup.

"Well, I am now.. I was so sure it wouldn't be any problem telling, but now.." he fell silent. Shinichi eyed the thief, then he smiled and leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms.

"I can wait, it's not the end of the world for me if you don't tell, I mean.. I would have figured it out on my own either way." he stated and earned a slight pout.

"Would you?" he asked back. Shinichi smirked.

"Well, you said you were followed by Hakuba-san right? So I can presume that you are close to him, either in work related situations or school, or maybe just living close to each other, so of course, with his mind, he'd probably be suspicious of you from the first day you met and he'd already assumed you are KID based on his train of thought, even if he doesn't have anything to prove it, he would still cling to this idea, going as far as making weird plans to somehow make you do a mistake and slip your cover." Shinichi stated. Kaitou stared back with wide eyes, and just as wide mouth.

"That pretty much based it yes.. you do know him don't you?" he asked.

"Of course I do, I've even worked with him on a case.. even though I was Conan then.." Shinichi sighed at the memory.

"He annoyed you?" Kaitou asked with an amused tone in his voice.

"What do you think? And to make matters worse, he pissed of Hattori as the case got worse, and what annoyed me the most is his seemingly nonexistent care of other human beings as long as he can solve a case.." Shinichi then sighed.

"In the end, Hattori solved the case right in front of him, and all thanks to his rashness and wish to save lives rather than just predict a murder of said life." the detective stated. Kaitou hummed.

"Yes, Hakuba can be like that, it's taken a lot of my time to soften him up, but he's still as stiff as they come." and then he groaned.

"I'd love to screw around a lot more with him, but he's just too good at noticing things.. like you." Kaitou then smirked. Shinichi raised an eyebrow.

"I'll take that as a compliment." he said, and Kaitou smirked.

"It is, for you, not for Hakuba.. apparently.." he stated, sighing. Shinichi chuckled.

"Well, he might be uptight, but I doubt it's that bad." Shinichi said. The magician thief sighed.

"You don't know him personally.. he's worse than that." he said, glaring at the cup in his hand before he made it vanish in a cloud of pink smoke. Shinichi narrowed both eyes as his mind automatically tried to deduce how he did it, but couldn't come up with an answer, at least not one that made sense.

"How do you do that, I've seen you make things disappear before, yet, I can't deduce how did time, are you using a new trick?" he asked. Kaito looked up at him, then he shook his head.

"No.. it seems that I too have a.. 'talent' as your mini-self called it, real magic, which my 'other' half has to for some reason, so I should advice you to check out what you might have caught." he said. Shinichi frowned.

"I don't think we have any.. because we haven't specialized in a certain thing like you.." he said.

"Don't you? What about soccer? Aren't you interested in that? And don't you play the violin?" the thief asked. Shinichi raised an eyebrow.

"I'm not going to ask how you know I'm playing the violin, but yes, I like both, but I would have noticed it, I have been playing the violin several times ever since I 'grew' back into myself, however, I haven't checked out my soccer skills yet." Shinichi stated.

"I don't know what you could have caught, but what about strength?" Kaitou suggested.

"Strength?" Shinichi looked generally confused. The thief nodded.

"Like, kicking? I mean, if you had the same strength as when you use those shoes, but without using them.." he tried. Shinichi slowly nodded.

"I see.. and even if it sounds farfetched, that might actually be something.. I don't know about Conan though.. we don't have that.. mind-whatever you called it, we do have the same brain, but is obviously a child, while I'm not.."

"So he's acting a bit more like a child now?" the magician asked. Shinichi nodded.

"Much more than before.. though it seems he's more adamant on coming over now, I have a feeling he wants to move, and I can see a reason why." Shinichi stated.

"The old man?" the thief laughed.

"Yes, him.. even if I can't really complain, the thought of leaving me- I mean, Conan, to breath more of that heavy smoke.. well, I think you can understand." Shinichi gave the magician a halfhearted smiled.

"There's nothing to do about that, and yes, I do understand.. have you talked to your girlfriend though?" the magician grimaced when he said the word girlfriend, it seemed to leave a bad taste in his mouth, for reasons even the person himself seemed not to understand. Shinichi's face darkened.

"No.. I haven't talked to anyone yet, we have already stated the facts that I'm myself again, however, we still have to worry about a few things, I don't want to pull Ran into these things.." Shinichi stood up.

"But soon I'll be out of this house, and I might head over.. there's still a promise between us." he said. Kaitou looked at him before he sighed.

"You left a promise of love." it wasn't a question. Shinichi sighed.

"Well, I told her a long time ago.. I'm waiting for.. her.." his eyes turned sad as he stared at something, but still nothing at all. The thief eyed the detective with a pitiful look on his face before he stood up.

"By the way, KID.. or should I call you that?" Shinichi asked. The thief laughed.

"You can call me Kaitou.. and the other me, KID.. he is here by the way." he said and the white clad appeared beside he doppelganger, startling Shinichi.

"Gah, don't do that!" he yelled, pointing a finger at the accused thief, who grinned back.

"Why? It's so fun, it seems I have more control of this than I first thought, I can appear or not, and even half way, so that you can see me, but still see through me." he said. Shinichi stared blankly back.

"So you're using this to scare people then?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, it's more experimenting really, it'll come in handy on heists, because it seems that while choosing between these three states, I can chose wherever I want people to pass through me, or bump into me." the thief said. Shinichi frowned.

"So you chose between being real and not? That seems to be handy." he stated.

"It is, can you imagine the face Nakamori would make?" KID asked, laughing. Kaitou laughed too, cackling as he clearly could. Shinichi just sighed and shook his head.

"You're crazy, and you seem immortal.. great." the two identical thieves just smirked back. Shinichi looked past them before he turned away.

"Is there something wrong?" Kaitou suddenly asked. Shinichi laughed.

"Am I getting sympathy from a internationally wanted phantom thief now? And no, there's nothing wrong.." the thieves gave the same pout at the sentence. Shinichi just grinned.

"Now then, I have things to do, don't you have something to do too? Planning a heist or annoying someone of a trivial position?" he asked, amusement gleamed in his eyes as he gave a glance over his shoulder at the two identical thieves. Kaitou grinned, as did his counterpart. The two didn't seem to even need to look at each other as they mouthed the same thing before the thief in white disappeared in a poff of pink smoke, but the other thief stayed.

"I don't think this thing with Pandora is over just yet.." the thief said and Shinichi turned, maybe a tad bit too fast, but he was agreeing, even without nodding.

"Yes, yes, I think so too, if you aren't careful, who knows what will happen, when are you going to steal the fake Pandora?" he asked. Kaitou turned slightly, looking more stern than the detective had ever seen him. Shinichi could see the hesitation, the choices, the worry and the very real thoughts about the heist that would come, no matter how much they held it off.

"I haven't decided yet, we might do it as soon as possible, but it wont be a heist like the others.. it'll be boring.." Kaitou huffed. Shinichi raised an eyebrow as he crossed his arms, but smiling never the less.

"Only you can find a thievery amusing.." he said. Kaitou just grinned.

"Yes, well, a normal life isn't cut out for me, you can't say anything otherwise, you who chase criminals no matter how dangerous he or her is, and no matter how thin the line of you life is." Shinichi couldn't agree more.

"True.. just sitting at home and being a normal teenager.. it's dull, far to dull for me." he said.

"I can understand that.. well, there probably wont be invitations for the next heist, but until next time either way." then he was gone, using the same smoke bomb as his clone. Shinichi stared at the spot where the thief had just been. He has seen the honest concern in Kaitou's eyes before he left, and the sincere worry lacing his every word. Shinichi slowly realized that this heist, the heist about to come, might be the one heist Kaitou feared the most. Shinichi walked out of the kitchen and into the library, trying not to think too much into it, because it'd only worry him too. That was one of the disadvantages of getting too close to Kaitou KID, you'd get awfully worried and always wonder if he was alright. Shinichi passed the desk just as his phone rang, startling him. He took it up and saw the display flash with a familiar name. Shinichi's eyebrows fell slightly, furrowing in the middle. School was finished, even he knew that, it was the moment Kaitou appeared, because he was obviously a teenager himself, even if he hadn't confirmed it.

"What could Ran possible want at this time?" he wondered before he answered, precarious in case it wasn't Ran, and something was wrong. She should already be home by now, but he still felt like ice was being dragged slowly down his back.

"Yes?" he answered, realizing he sounded hesitant.

"Shinichi? Ah, I didn't think you'd pick up, I heard from Conan you'll be back soon, is it true? Are you coming back to school too?" she asked, sounding almost breathless. Shinichi frowned, he hadn't known Conan would slip up so easily, so something was definitely wrong.

"Um, yes.. but how come Conan told you? I don't think.. he knew.." he said.

"Oh, I just asked, that's all.." Shinichi didn't like the answer he got.

"Ran, can I talk to Conan?" he asked

"Uh, sure." there was a moment of silence before Conan answered.

"Yes? What is it Shinichi-niichan?" the boy asked. Shinichi sighed.

"Did you really tell her that I returned Conan? You know how risky that is." he said. Conan made something close to a gurgle and a moment later, Shinichi could hear a door closing, probably Conan leaving the room.

"Yeah, well, Ran can be scary.. besides.. I felt like.. mentioning me- I mean, you, because.. something's wrong with Ran, she's hiding something.." Conan said and the tiny ball that had been rolling about in Shinichi's stomach suddenly grew in size and density, making his every move heavier, his swallowing thicker.

"So it seems.. it's not actually.." he seemed to be at a loss of words, which didn't happen often.

"Good? I know.. I understand how you feel.. I'll make up some reason for you wanting to talk to me because Ran's suspicious, Genta-kun noticed." Shinichi whistled.

"Really? Even Genta-kun? Then it must be really bad, I'll try to get Haibara to release sooner then so I can come over.. I have a feeling it's deeper than any of us think." he said.

"I agree.. um.. Ran-neechan want's to talk to you again." Conan switched to his childish voice just like that. Shinichi shuddered. Now he knew how Heiji felt every time he had done it as Conan, it was scary.

"Shinichi, when exactly will you return?" Ran suddenly asked. Shinichi blinked.

"What? Oh, oh.. the return.. I don't know, within next week I think.. I'm not sure yet, but it'll be soon." Shinichi said.

"Shinichi, a date to go by would be nice." Shinichi sighed.

"I don't know Ran, Thursday or Friday, even I don't know exact yet."

"Fine, but I'm busy next week." Shinichi sighed. It wasn't like Ran to keep a busy schedule when Shinichi was back in town, maybe she was moving away from him after all, even if she didn't let it on.

"Ran.. look, I.." he stopped himself.

"I have to go Shinichi, bye." then she hung up and Shinichi just stared dumbfounded at his own cellphone before he realized he looked like an idiot and shut it, putting it in his pocket.

"I'll have to head over and talk to her.." he decided. There was no way he could just let this go by, something was wrong, and he'd figure it out, one way or another. She had promised him, she'd promised she's wait for him and Shinichi knew that Ran wasn't a person to break a promise, in fact, she would keep them, no matter what. So whatever was wrong, would it have an impact on their relationship, or not? He didn't know, and he certainly didn't want to know if it was the first of the two.

"Ran.. what are you hiding?" he thought.

* * *

Blah blah.. yeah, I think it's obvious where this is going.. nah, just me..

Tell me how this is okay? I'm still working on their character design to fit the story, so yeah..

Until next time :)


	5. Chapter 4

FINALLY! Fuck.. I was having hard time with this.. for some reason, I haven't had any motivation writing for the last half year, and having these personal issues aren't helping at all.. wanna lie down in fetal position and cry myself to sleep..

Another reason for me completely forgetting about this story, I've gotten sucked into Sherlock, then Doctor Who, then I joined Tumblr (yes, I know.. lucky me!) then I got hooked on Supernatural.. and Avengers isn't helping thank you very much.. yeah, sorry guys, I'm so far off this shit as I can possible get, but I will finish it.. even if it's that last thing I do! It'll just take a while..

I sadly.. don't know when I will update again, but I'll try.. seeing it takes me a month on each page (what? shit.. srsly?) and I enjoy screwing around with Shinichi and Ran's relationship, so here you guys go! HAve some AngstyShinichi, KindKaitou and some more EvilRan :P

* * *

Chapter 4.

Trust is Gained And Deserved.

As the week passed, there was no news about Kaitou or a possible heist, but Shinichi knew, and dreaded the coming magic show, because he, unlike many other knew what was going to happen behind the curtain. It was Wednesday, and while the school had passed without him, he had been allowed by Haibara to go outside, and he knew just where to go. That was where Shinichi was now, just outside the detective office of Mouri. He stared at the door, clearly hearing voices behind it. Conan had called, saying he wouldn't come over that day because he was going to hang out with his friends at the park, which was okay with him anyway, but Ran, he hadn't heard from her since that day on the phone. He knew she was inside.

"Well, I guess I'll get over with it." he thought and drew in a breath before he stopped, hearing Sonoko loudly complain through the door and he glared at the door like it was the fault for stopping him.

"What's she doing here? Gah, annoying girl, I should have come later.." he thought, but stopped when he heard his name leaving the lips of that KID-fanatic.

"So, when's Kudou-kun returning? I heard he's back.." Sonoko had asked.

"Tomorrow or Friday, he didn't specify." Ran answered, sounding oddly cool about the whole thing. Shinichi stood where he was, his brain already going through the different scenarios, wherever the worst one was him ending up in a ditch somewhere, anything but alive.

"Oh, I'm guessing his taking you out on a date then, you and that husband of yours?" Sonoko sounded far to smug for her own good. Shinichi just grit his teeth, ignoring his own mind's wish to kick something in her face.

"No, I doubt it." Ran said. Shinichi noted that embarrassment as well as something akin to hesitation, which was always present when Sonoko teased Ran, was absent.

"And the reason for that? He's found someone else?" Sonoko screeched and Shinichi felt like strangling the rich girl like no tomorrow.

"No, nothing like that." Ran answered sharply, but sounded oddly amused as well, like she was thinking of something funny. Shinichi took a breath, having not realized he had been holding it. His mind was serving him one bad scenario after another on silver plates. Oh how he hated his mind whenever something like this was happening. And he hadn't heard what Ran said afterwards, it was too low for him to hear.

"What?" Sonoko seemed to be taken back by something.

"Your.. dating him? But.. what about Kudou-kun?" Shinichi's blood turned to ice, running through his system, chilling everywhere it reached. His heart did a loop before it started hammering against his chest. Through the heavy ringing in his ears, he could hear Ran chuckle, but Shinichi didn't register it at all.

"What do I do when he leaves for more than a year? Not telling anyone where he goes, of course I'll be moving on.." Ran stated casually. Shinichi's hand, which had been resting on the door handle this entire time, fell to his side, limp.

"But, you told me you promised to wait for him.." Sonoko tried.

"Obviously I lied, I thought I'd let him taste some of his own medicine.." Shinichi didn't hear the rest of the conversation as he fled, ears ringing loudly and his chest aching from his racing heart. His eyes stung from tears threatening to fall, but he wouldn't let them. His pride wasn't the cause to that, like he usually tended to tell himself.

"I guess it's good to know then.." he thought as he ran street to street, passing only the dull of the world. Even a bloody crime scene wouldn't stop him now, not even Gin appearing in front of him to shoot him down, he'd just run him down and not look back.

"Don't cry.. damnit.." Shinichi cursed mentally as he skidded across the asphalt, stopping in front of his house, where he stood, slightly bent over, trying to calm down. He lifted a hand, driving his palm into his face to dry the tears trying to fall. He used the jumper he wore, pulling it up to dry what fell. He couldn't make the mistake of showing the world his tears now, not yet. Shinichi opened the gate, before slamming it shut, hearing it rattle long after in protest to his abuse. The door suffered the same fate, creaking at being manhandled. Then he grabbed the nearest thing he could find, which happened to be a vase and flung it into the wall, shattering it. He was angry, not at Ran, never at Ran, but at himself for not seeing the signs, not being able to let go, knowing fully well she suffered from it.

"For God's sake." he muttered, walking past his resent crime, killing one of his mother's vases, the Xing-dynasty vase that cost about three million yen. He didn't bother picking up the shattered pieces that was just laying there, as an outrageous proof of his anger. There was no lacking his anger for hours afterward, just laying on the bed, glaring up into the roof, trying to connect the dots, trying to find out when, and where the signs started. When Ran started dating some guy he'd never met, not even as Conan. She was getting good, too good at hiding, just like he had been.

"Why.. why couldn't you just tell me? As a punishment, even that's low.." he muttered, more than himself, there was no one else in the house anyway, leaving him to brood over this on his own.

"Punishment?" came the question from nowhere and Shinichi gave a startled squeak before he sat up, looking around to find a certain black-clothed thief sitting on his desk.

"W-when did you come in?" Shinichi asked loudly, pointing an accusing finger at the darned thief.

"Just now, oh have I told how much I love these strange powers?" he asked gleefully. Shinichi glared.

"Yes, and I don't care anyway, please leave." his somewhat harsh words seemed to catch the thief's attention in a better way than Shinichi had expected, maybe because he had overheard him just a few seconds ago.

"What happened?" the thief asked, sitting down beside Shinichi, sudden and very close. Shinichi stared right back, then he sighed, having seen the sincere worry and the honest care in his eyes.

"Ran.. happened.." he whispered. Kaitou's eyes widened slightly before he sighed as well, making Shinichi frown.

"Is it bad?" he asked. Shinichi nodded.

"She's moved on.. and yet.. she promised me she'd wait for me.." Kaitou gave him a disbelieving look.

"What? She cheated on you?" he asked. Shinichi glared.

"There never was us to begin with.. she.. I told her, in London, how I felt, I've always known how she.. felt.. about me, and yet, I never saw the signs." he said, lowing his head into his hands. Kaitou placed a hand on his shoulder.

"This might not be the right time, but maybe you should tell her how you feel, it seems to me like you suffered more than she ever did." he said. Shinichi looked up, giving Kaitou and honestly shocked looked.

"What? Tell her what? That I've chased around an internationally wanted murderer and assassin while having to make sure no one saw me, and thought I was dead?!" Kaitou raised an eyebrow at this information, only to see Shinichi hide his face again, groaning.

"Great.. just what I needed.. you knowing this.." he muttered.

"How long?" this question confused Shinichi.

"What?" he asked back, looking up at the magician's face again.

"How long have you been hiding and doing this?" Kaitou asked.

"Since.. well, I guess since that day in the amusement park, well over a year.. I was.. in second year, it was early semester when it happened.." Shinichi said, then he smiled a bit, honestly and sudden. Kaitou raised an eyebrow, but smiled back nevertheless.

"I'm being to honest when it comes to you.." Shinichi commented.

"I noticed." Kaitou said, chuckling.

"And I can't figure out just why.." he muttered and Kaitou just smiled softly, completely different from how he usually smiled, or rather, smirked.

"Maybe it's because I too have had a long time where I've been forced to hide, to pretend?" Kaitou suggested. Shinichi nodded.

"It'd make sense." his face fell as he slowly got depressed again.

"If only I could be as honest with Ran.." he said.

"But you feared for her life didn't you?" Kaitou's question made Shinichi nod sadly, then he turned his head.

"You know that pain... don't you?" he asked back. Kaitou seemed to still for a moment before he nodded.

"All to much.."

"Then I think we have a lot more in common than we both know.." he said.

"Oh? Pray tell, what would that be?" Kaitou smirked despite it.

"Hiding, lying, pretending, most people do all that today anyway, but you, you look like me, have nearly the same voice, the same hair color, we both love have everyone's eyes on us while we do what we like, and we both do something that's a bit outrageous." Shinichi began explaining. Kaitou nodded while smirking.

"And?"

"We both know the pain of losing someone?" Shinichi suggested and Kaitou's face fell.

"It depends.." Kaitou's voice was much lower than usual. Shinichi stared, then he sighed softly, smiling a bit sadly.

"I'm sorry, I touched a soft spot without knowing it.." Kaitou just shook his head.

"It's in the past now, but it still sometimes hurt.." he said.

"I see, I almost forgot you told me about your father.." Kaitou shook his head.

"It get's easier and easier day by day, but it was easier before the truth came before my eyes.." he said. Shinichi nodded.

"So, have you been making plans for the heist then?" he asked. Kaitou nodded.

"Yes, but I probably wont do it yes, I'm going to have one between so there wont be any suspicion as to why I go twice." Shinichi just smiled. Kaitou then tilted his head to the side.

"So, what are you going to do now?" he asked. Shinichi shrugged his shoulders.

"Don't know.. I guess I'll have to return to school anyway, even if it'll hurt seeing Ran, I have no choice, I can of course just go to America and take an undergraduate degree, which isn't actually all that hard, depending on which degree I go for.." he said.

"Really? Don't you have to finish high school for that?" Kaitou asked.

"Well, yes, unless you have the mind of a genius." was Shinichi's answer.

"Oh.. well, I would know if you were, and I'm quite sure you are."

"Me? I'm sure I'm that much of a genius, it's true that my IQ are way above average, but not enough to be called a genius." Shinichi said, smirking now.

"Have you tested it? Like, taken a real IQ test? Not the ones you find on internet.." Kaitou suggested.

"Well, no, I never considered it because I never thought it was necessary."

"You should, considering the fact that you can solve crimes like Sherlock Holmes, rich as Tony Stark and look good while doing anything, I don't think genius is far over your head." Kaitou stated.

"Tony.. Stark?" Shinichi asked, staring in disbelief.

"What? You've never heard of Tony Stark? Iron Man?" Shinichi groaned.

"Of course I have, I grew up reading about him, but we have a huge difference, I'm not a playboy, and I certainly can't make something out of tiny bits and pieces, that's your job." Shinichi stated. Kaitou raised an eyebrow, but smirked nevertheless.

"I can't agree more, well then, I've got things to do, don't kill yourself while I'm away, not that I think it'd work anyway.." he waved a hand over his shoulder after he got up, walking away. Shinichi chuckled.

"You know.." he started and Kaitou stopped, turning his head.

"Hm?" the thief hummed in response.

"I don't find it weird that we're talking like we've known each other for a long time." he said. Kaitou stared wide eyed at him, then he laughed.

"You're the only one who can say that, and do it as well, others either try attack me, or try to arrest me." Shinichi stared back with a deadpan.

"And I don't try to arrest you?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. Kaitou chuckled.

"Yes, you do, but you are the only one risking to work together with me to get something done." Kaitou stated and the detective could only nod.

"That's because we usually end up working together wherever we like it or not, most of the time anyway." Shinichi stated and Kaitou laughed.

"Yes, we're stuck together."

"Indeed we are."

* * *

Shinichi awoke with a startle when the alarm rang. He rose from the bed, staring at the clock like it was something he'd never seen before, then realizing that today was the day he was going back to school. He yawned, slowly getting out of bed, then he stretched. There was no way he'd rush off, knowing that after so long without school, or at least, high school, he'd be having a hell of a boring time once he returned, because, with the lack of better words, school was dull. Maybe because he had IQ higher than college students? Yeah, something like that. The thoughts about Ran was absent until he was standing in front of the toaster, shirt and pants on, tie around his neck, not tied yet. His school jacket hung loosely on one of the chairs. That was the moment when Ran returned to his mind. His hands fell to the surface of the counter, breathing hard.

"Ran.." his voice low with shame and sadness. He turned around, angered and slammed the button on the radio, hoping for something to keep his mind occupied. Instead, his ears received a stupid English song, something strange song from a movie he recognized to be Grease. What the song was named he didn't know, but he felt like the text fit him more than he wanted. The woman sang something about being hopelessly devoted to someone, how the mind wanted to forget, but the heart to keep holding on.

"Fuck.." Shinichi muttered, turning back to the toaster. The song continued to play throughout his entire time in the kitchen, so after the song finished, he shut the radio off, grabbed his jacket of the chair and entered the hall. He grabbed his school bag and put whatever lunch he had made into it. He usually didn't care what he made, because it wasn't really eatable, but he had learned something in these long days of torturous boredom. He put on his shoes and jacket, then grabbed the keys.

"Why do I even bother.." he muttered, his hand on the door handle. There was no way of knowing if he could even face Ran at this point. Shinichi was pretty sure she was unaware of him knowing about her little lie, but that didn't make it any less hard to deal with. He looked in the mirror by the stand near the front door. Why was he cursed to walk alone, fighting the darkness of the world? No, that wasn't exactly right, he had Haibara, Heiji, Conan, even Kaito, and sometimes even some more people, but he couldn't depend on any of them all the time, and there was no way he could drag Conan into more of this mess. He turned away, then opened the door. Come what may, he'd have to face it sooner or later, and he'd rather do it now than to keep suffering from hiding it instead.

"Well, I guess I have no choice.." he murmured and exited the house, locked the door and walked down the path from the house. He knew that this day could only get worse, at least from his point of view. Then he stopped, hooked into the gate, was a tine slip of paper, a letter by the looks of it, and a rose, red as scarlet, and beautiful. Shinichi stopped before it, staring at it like it's alien before he took the letter, taking the rose as well, then opened the letter, reading.

_I know this isn't what you usually get from me, but I thought, I'd let you know that I care, even though others may not._

_I personally think that we can become good friends, not partners perhaps, we aren't exactly sharing the same side on the law._

_But I'm willing to go far to stay by your side._

_I hope you will escape from your suffering and that you can someone who can help you get over your heartbreak._

_So I guess I'll see you later, and yes, I will send a note when I have the heist ready._

Underneath, was a clover and a single heart drawn. Shinichi couldn't help but stare at the signing, the text and the rose. Who the heck put in a heart on a letter to their friend anyway? Kaitou KID apparently.

"You've got to be kidding with me.." he muttered, but he couldn't help but smile anyway. It wasn't often someone he barely talked to, much less saw on civilian occasions would send this to him, and not in this way. He stared at the rose before shaking his head softly.

"You dummy, I already knew you cared, or else you wouldn't have told me almost everything in the first place.." he murmured before putting the letter into his school bag while gently lifting the rose, examining it with care. He didn't want to get a thorn in his thumb, but he was still fascinated by how fresh and healthy the roses the thief always carried, looked. And of course, where he kept them, but then again, these days, the magician thief could do just about anything. He looked up, his smile now a bit silly, only to stop short when he saw the one person he really didn't want to see and his smile faltered.

"Ran.." he said curtly, awaiting what happened next and also thanked heavens that he hadn't unlocked the gate yet. Ran stared back, she stared right at him, then down at the rose.

"You're getting.. popular again.." she said, sounding oddly cold while saying so. Shinichi raising an eyebrow. He knew jealousy when he saw it, but he couldn't exactly tell her the infamous, internationally wanted Kaitou KID sent this to him to comfort him, that would be the saddest joke and probably the last thing he would ever say again. Shinichi sighed, the shrugged his shoulders before he quickly opened the gate, getting out before locking it. He knew he couldn't just leave the rose to die on his doorstep or inside the hall, because he still hadn't replaced the vase he oh so kindly smashed earlier. Yeah, he needed to tell his mother about that.

"Let's go then." he said, keeping his eyes anywhere but Ran's eyes. Shinichi just couldn't look her in the eyes. He was scared he'd blurt out the truth, that he knew what she was doing, that he wasn't happy about it, but he kept his mouth shut about it. It took them barely any time to reach the gate of the school and while Shinichi kept himself more in the shade now, there was still some teens who stopped, stared and pointing and he felt like glaring in their general directions.

"Look who finally joined us!" he looked up to see that devil girl standing there. Sonoko grinned at him and Ran, but Shinichi easily saw past it. Her eyes wasn't smiling, she was wearing a mask Shinichi had become to comfortable with using these past year. There was no hiding the suffering from that, and he could see that Sonoko wasn't all the indifferent either, but she held back. Then she turned slightly.

"Come on, or we'll be late, and we can't have that now, can we?" she said. Shinichi snorted, not really caring, still keeping his eyes away from Ran and he knew Sonoko had noticed, he could see it in her eyes. So, instead, he turned towards Sonoko, meeting her eyes, an untold conversation going between them, then he shook his head gently before turning away. They entered the school hall and he went to his locker. He switched shoes and closed the locker to see Sonoko standing close to him.

"What?" he asked, careful not to sound to annoyed.

"Are you going to tell her that you know?" she asked, keeping her voice low. Shinichi averted his eyes.

"Yes, eventually I'll have to.. but right now, I just want to.. be left alone.." he said, smiling sadly at her. Ran passed, giving them an odd look.

"We'll be late.." she stated and Sonoko sighed, then loudly complained about school and how it was so annoying, but she still kept her eyes on Shinichi.

"You love her.. don't you?" she asked. Shinichi sighed, then he started walking, passing her, but when doing so, he whispered one word.

"Yes.."

* * *

There was no denying the class was happy to see him again. Most of the class remained intact from last year, there was a few who wasn't there, and some new he didn't know, but he didn't care much anymore. Shinichi knew that his situation with the BO and his continuing disappearance kept him from talking with people his own age and interacting with someone sociable. He could never be the same again, he never would be, nor did he want to. The detective turned his head slightly, looking out at the sky, then he sighed silently. He could feel the presence of Ran, literary. Her eyes resting on his neck the entire time and he hated it. Shinichi just wanted to turn around and tell her to stop staring at him. The bell rang and Shinichi let out a sigh of relief before slumping against the desk, already wishing he hadn't returned to school.

"Shinichi." he didn't even look up, he knew whose voice that was.

"What is it?" he muttered, his face faced downwards with his eyes shut as he frowned at the light pain in his head. A headache moving on him wasn't what he needed right now.

"Who gave you that rose?" Ran asked. Shinichi just groaned.

"I don't even want to think at the moment, much less remember the rose, please.." he just said.

"Yeah, who gave it to you?" Sonoko, the rest of the class probably watching, Shinichi know, nor did he care. He didn't even look up.

"A friend.." he muttered, sitting up and rubbing soothing circles on his forehead, trying to lighten the headache that was raging at full force now. Ran just stared at him.

"A friend?" she asked, sounding more annoyed that Shinichi felt.

"Yes, a friend, what's wrong with me having friends?" he asked, keeping his eyes shut tightly as he continued to rub his forehead.

"Nothing.." Ran murmured.

"You having a domestic already?" one of their classmates teased. Shinichi didn't even turn around, he just lifted a hand away from the head, gave the laughing teen the finger, and then returned to rubbing his head.

"We-we weren't." Ran stuttered. Shinichi then opened his eyes, looking directly at Ran like she had somehow changed overnight and become some sort of monster. She acted so innocent, so indifferent to what she had said the other day. She must have noticed him looking at her and when she meet his eyes she just blinked. Shinichi tore his eyes away before getting up.

"Something wrong?" Sonoko asked, having watched the entire time.

"Nothing really.. just a murderer named headache whose out to kill me.." he muttered, flashing a joking grin. Sonoko's lips twitched up into a smile. Shinichi was out of the door before anyone could ask anything else. He didn't care if Ran had noticed how he had looked away when she meet his eyes, he just couldn't handle the suffering pressure. And yet, he was blaming himself for suffering like a fool and letting Ran suffer too.

"Yeah, I'm the smartest on Earth.." he muttered, heading for the nurse's office. He put a hand in his jacket as he knocked, only to stop short and look down. He drew out his hand, but there was no letter. He could remember putting the letter into that pocket, but he never took it out. Shinichi had only once taken the jacket off, and he had let it out of sight for no more than a minute at least.

"Shinichi.." he turned his head, seeing Ran standing there, her hand clutching the letter he had hidden. Shinichi just stared at the letter before raising his hand, holding it out towards Ran.

"Ran, that's mine, why did you take it?" he asked. Ran just pursed her lips.

"Why didn't you tell me you had someone?" she asked suddenly and Shinichi couldn't help it, he laughed. Here he was, with his headache and being questioned for lying while the person who was really lying about having someone close was standing in front of him. Ran just glared, and Shinichi ended his laughter in a cough.

"Look Ran, I don't know how you interpreted that letter, but it's a friendly letter, a friend, a good friend, nothing more, nothing less." he said, steering his eyes away from Ran's.

"You said you'd wait for me.." Ran just said, and Shinichi snapped.

"Yes, yes I did Ran, because I believed that you still love me.." he stated.

"I do.." she mumbled and Shinichi scoffed.

"Yeah, sure looks like it." he said, glaring at her.

"Shinichi.."

"Now give that letter back, I don't really like people taking something from me, you of all people should know that." he stated, sighing and drawing a hand through his neatly combed hair, ruffling it. Shinichi didn't doubt he looked more like Kaitou now and it somehow made his smile a bit.

"Look, Ran, I don't care what reason you had for taking it, and I can easily forgive you for that, now give it back, then I can go see the school nurse, you go back to class and we'll talk later okay?" he asked. Ran just glared at him.

"Why? Why is some random girl more precious to you than me?" she asked.

"W-what?" Shinichi asked, his jaw falling.

"This!" she raised the hand clutching the letter. Shinichi started walking towards her, tearing the letter out of her hands.

"Ran, come on, this isn't a girl's letter, it's from a guy! Geez, I don't play around, you know that, _he_ is a friend, a _male_ friend!" he stated, dragging the other hand down his face.

"What guy draws a heart to a friend?" Ran asked.

"Yeah, I've been asking myself that the entire time, look, he is a joker, trickster if you will, he loves to joke around with people and frankly I don't mind, but he is my friend, and you have no right talking about cheating on the one you love." he snapped. Ran stared back, shock covering her face then she opened her mouth to reply, but Shinichi wasn't finished.

"Yes, I did know, you think I wouldn't realize that suffering I caused you, and myself by doing these jobs? You think I would just let it go? You tricking me into believing you still love me?" he asked, glaring, his teeth clenched. Ran just looked down.

"Good you seems to figured out what you did Ran.. whatever, just walk away, I know deserved it, but even I know I don't deserve being lied to like that! Even I wouldn't sink so low as to pretend to love someone only to reveal such a secret, and I can affirm already that I have a lot of secrets!" Shinichi said loudly.

"Are you finished?" Ran just asked and Shinichi stared back.

"Wha- fine.. have it your way!" he said, raising his hands in frustration.

"If this is how you want it, fine, but remember Ran, I don't easily trust people, and those who gain it, has it for as long as they know to deserve it!" he growled, turning away. He didn't want to be here now, he needed to get out, away. Shinichi didn't want to see Ran cry because of him, didn't want to see her stare at him like he was just another random guy on the street.

"Shinichi." Ran tried, but Shinichi shook his head.

"No Ran.. I can't.. I tried, I thought I would be able to continue staying here, beside you, but as a friend, I guess I was wrong.." and with that, he walked away, hiding the tear threatening to fall.

* * *

Ah, finally.. I was awaiting this.. the turn of this story :P

I have something more in stores for Shinichi yet, so please do hold on for a while okay? ^^

Until then! And please review if you have the time, I need feedback D:


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